A surprise attack on the wall between Garlean occupied Ala Mhigo and the frontiers of the Eorzian Alliance restarts a long dormant desire for two groups of long oppressed people to fight for their freedom from the evil empire. Aided by the Warrior of Light and the combined forces of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, a battle for the freedom of the regions of Doma and Ala Mhigo begins....
I'll keep this brief; Stormblood was a measurably worse experience for me than both A Realm Reborn and Heavensward. Most of this, in its main quest, is due to the pacing of multiplayer dungeons and trials; you will often go ten to fifteen quests without hitting one of these pivotal XIV activities, and even though the boss encounters in Stormblood are incredibly dynamic and refreshing, making me wait sometimes several hours between getting to feast on them makes for a rather dry experience.
Stormblood is where Final Fantasy XIV combat starts to really feel like something special; boss encounters in this expansion force you to adapt quickly to changing mechanics, and some encounters take wide swings at variety. You really get the sense that this is the first expansion where they've really got their sea legs underneath them and are willing to embrace the structure of the combat systems they've designed as a strength. This thoughtful planning carries over into the games' many single player duty events which push strategy and mindfulness into the forefront like never before.
I just wish the pacing allowed for...well...more of it.
It also doesn't help that the dense pacing of quests also greatly slows down the pacing of the large - perhaps too large, scale of the storytelling. You not only liberate the region of Ala Mhigo in its entirety, but are introduced to the region of Doma as well, which requires you to travel the seas for the first time outside of a boat. These regions are vast, distinct areas filled with unique cultures, but every major event that would draw you further into the world shifting conflict at large would be met with five more where you just end up talking to three people in a small village or pick up some dung off the ground. In this way it feels the most let down by the MMO game play loop; it feels awkward to be hailed as the savior of the realm many times over and then be tasked with picking flowers and talking to the locals over and over. Content is paced out in such a way that you seldom truly feel like the realm's Warrior of Light. Sometimes you're just essentially an amazon driver. Sheeesh.
Anyways that last trial owns. Give me a dozen more just like that.
I'll keep this brief; Stormblood was a measurably worse experience for me than both A Realm Reborn and Heavensward. Most of this, in its main quest, is due to the pacing of multiplayer dungeons and trials; you will often go ten to fifteen quests without hitting one of these pivotal XIV activities, and even though the boss encounters in Stormblood are incredibly dynamic and refreshing, making me wait sometimes several hours between getting to feast on them makes for a rather dry experience.
Stormblood is where Final Fantasy XIV combat starts to really feel like something special; boss encounters in this expansion force you to adapt quickly to changing mechanics, and some encounters take wide swings at variety. You really get the sense that this is the first expansion where they've really got their sea legs underneath them and are willing to embrace the structure of the combat systems they've designed as a strength. This thoughtful planning carries over into the games' many single player duty events which push strategy and mindfulness into the forefront like never before.
I just wish the pacing allowed for...well...more of it.
It also doesn't help that the dense pacing of quests also greatly slows down the pacing of the large - perhaps too large, scale of the storytelling. You not only liberate the region of Ala Mhigo in its entirety, but are introduced to the region of Doma as well, which requires you to travel the seas for the first time outside of a boat. These regions are vast, distinct areas filled with unique cultures, but every major event that would draw you further into the world shifting conflict at large would be met with five more where you just end up talking to three people in a small village or pick up some dung off the ground. In this way it feels the most let down by the MMO game play loop; it feels awkward to be hailed as the savior of the realm many times over and then be tasked with picking flowers and talking to the locals over and over. Content is paced out in such a way that you seldom truly feel like the realm's Warrior of Light. Sometimes you're just essentially an amazon driver. Sheeesh.
Anyways that last trial owns. Give me a dozen more just like that.